


One Night

by AweburnPhoenix



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Karaoke, Pre-Episode: s10e01 The Pilot, Punk Scully, They forget all about it (or maybe not)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 05:57:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20719229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AweburnPhoenix/pseuds/AweburnPhoenix
Summary: What if maybe Fox and Dana met (if only briefly) before 1992?}» Audio version available on the Audio Fanfic Podcasthere





	One Night

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks for @suilven for her beta :D
> 
> }» Audio version available on the Audio Fanfic Podcast [here](https://soundcloud.com/audiofanficpod/xf-one-night-by-aweburn-phoenix)

_ January 1990 _

_ Karaoke Bar, Arlington, Virginia. _

"C'mon, Dana, you know this song!”

"I'm not singing, El. You know that!"

She had agreed to a  _ Girls Night Out, _ but taking her to karaoke had been a rude move on their part. Ellen knew she was a reserved singer. It was not that she couldn’t sing —she actually did it pretty well— but having an audience made her self-conscious.

"You gotta do something wild before you become an employee of the government,” Kathy yelled over Ellen’s voice, who had already started singing.

"Besides, you are pretty drunk already, you won't remember a thing tomorrow.” Mandy pulled Dana’s ass off the sofa and pushed her toward the stage.

_ Okay, okay, _ she relinquished, taking one last sip of her pink beverage and jumping on the stage. 

“ _ Always lived, very quiet life. _ ” Her voice sounded awful but her girlfriends yelled so loud that she cheered up quickly. After all, nobody knew her here. She had just moved out of her parent’s house in Annapolis and she would be just spending this night here. For the next five months she’d be living at Quantico Academy. 

It had been a bold move and she was still doubting herself. But Melissa had been so supportive during the Christmas holidays that her intent had been renewed. 1990 was going to be a great year, and Dana was determined to start it with a blast. As she sang with her friend, she made a promise to leave her old self behind. 

+++++++

_ Don’t you want to have kids, Fox? A house in the suburbs? _

Diana's questions were pounding in his mind. He understood, he really did. It was all his fault for dating an older woman. She was over thirty and she was getting restless. It just seemed too soon for him. For fuck’s sake, they had been married for less than a year and had known each other for another year more. 

For starters, he doubted he was good father material. Fox was even starting to worry he wasn’t a great husband either. Why was he, on a Sunday night, sitting in a bar instead of being at their apartment? Oh, yeah. Because he was afraid she was going to ask him again and have that fight going over and over. He’d wait until she was asleep and then sneak in. He might even sleep on the couch. “The stakeout lasted longer, and I didn’t want to wake you.” Fox hated himself for even thinking about lying to her. But the Lee Roche case was sucking the life out of him, and he didn’t have any strength left. Fox felt he was so close to catching him, he was finding it difficult to think about anything else.

One more drink and he’d be leaving. He wasn’t used to doing this, and two glasses of bourbon were starting to make him light-headed. As he sipped, he kept looking at the golden band on his left hand. He had come here to relax, and it was making him even more anxious. He decided to take it off, just for a while. He’d put it back on as soon as he was home. He flicked his hair away as he bent over the bar. He’d need a haircut soon.

_ One night with you… _

He chuckled at the Elvis song. Fox liked coming to the karaoke bar. It was fun to see that there were so many other people out there in the world also making fools of themselves. Here, he was not the only loser. Sometimes he could enjoy the songs he liked. Like that one. The lady singing it was doing quite a good job.

" _ I ain't never did no wrong. _ ” After some uproar and clapping, a different voice joined the first woman. The second one sang slightly out of tune, but it was a lovely voice nonetheless. Fox was forced to turn around and check the stage.

He was surprised to see a couple of girls singing crazily. The dark-haired one must have been the first; and the beautiful petite redhead, the second to join. Her white skin was red at the cheeks. She looked like someone whose friends were pulling a prank, probably a send-off party. She was dressed quite punky, with red and black clothes and a pink "farewell" band across her chest. Was she getting married? She seemed too young for that, barely twenty, he guessed. But who knew, love had no age, right?

+++++++

"So, now that you are fairly drunk and your tongue seems to have loosened… Are you gonna tell us why the hell are you enrolling in the FBI?" Kathy was determined not to let her off the hook.

"She's escaping from  _ Daddy Daniel _ ,” Mandy yelled a little too loud before Dana could concoct an answer.

"Oh, my. Is that it? I thought you had put an end to it a while back,” Kathy quickly replied.

The death look Dana gave Ellen could have killed a whole army, but her friend crossed her heart: she hadn’t told them anything. Dana had to believe her; Ellen wouldn't slip her tongue like that. Mandy must have heard the story somewhere else, which worried her a little. 

"There was nothing to put an end to, because there was nothing going on."

It was a lie, a white lie. There had been something, but she had come to her senses before it had gone too far. She still had feelings for her professor, but that was not the reason she was leaving. Not the main reason, at least. She could keep her feelings at bay. But she was not so sure about him. He had made an advance, and she had had to stop him. Gulping down her drink, she recalled her last conversation with Daniel.

_ “Dana, you are an extraordinary woman.” He had caressed her cheek as he always did, and she had pushed his hand away.  _

_ “And you are a married man.” _

_ It had taken him by surprise, but that day she had approached him in his office for a different reason than usual. No more playing and dancing around the issue. She shouldn’t have accepted his gifts and his advances, but she was young and stupid and hadn’t realized how far it could go. The flirting hadn’t been innocent, not on his part. After almost letting him fuck her in his office the week before, she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep, and she knew exactly why. She didn’t want to be  _ that person _ . The recruiters from the FBI had been like messengers from heaven. She hadn’t hesitated to accept their offer; even if it meant finishing her medical degree while she started her FBI career. She’d have to work harder, but she had never had a problem with that. _

_ "I will leave her, for you. I will,” Daniel tried to convince her as he always did, but this time she was definitive. _

_ "I won’t be the reason for a family break up. I’m joining the FBI; this is the last time you’ll see me,” she finished and turned around. She needed to leave quickly, afraid of him luring her back. Daniel had that power over her and she hated it.  _

_ “Wait, what? Are you leaving your medical career? Dana, you haven't thought this through.” He kept talking and grabbed her wrist _

_“I have. I did; it’s done. _We _are_ _done.”_

_ She shook his grip off and walked away. He kept talking, yelling, shouting in the corridor where some curious students were looking at her. “You’re gonna regret this!” she thought she heard. But she didn’t care. She had made up her mind and nothing would change it. _

It had taken her a while to put herself together, but she thought this was a good idea after all. Her parents disagreed, but Missy had been so supportive that she had no doubts left. Soon Ahab would see how she was actually following in his footsteps; he would understand. She was going to be the best agent in her class.

"Dana, that guy has been ogling you since you jumped on the stage.” Ellen brought her back from her daydreaming.

“Go talk to him,” Kathy encouraged her.

“We won’t take no for an answer!” Mandy grabbed her glass from her hand and moved away so she could get out of the booth.

Dana couldn’t deny the guy looked good, slightly younger than the men she was usually attracted to. But hadn’t she promised herself she was going to change her old ways? 

+++++++

Fox couldn’t take his eyes from the redhead. She was definitely not his type. She was so small and grunge… But there was something about her that lured him to turn around over and over.

When he saw her getting up and walking his way, he almost spat out his drink.  _ Shit, shit, shit _ ; he hated himself. She had seen him and was going to call him out because of all that gazing. Why couldn’t he keep his eyes on his drink? Why couldn’t he have left already?

He started getting ready for the reprimand.

“Sorr—,” he muttered when he finally felt her sitting on the stool beside him.

"Donna," he thought he heard over a new singer, but he didn’t care to check. 

She extended her hand his way and he was shocked.

“Do I get to know your name?"

"Will,” he quickly said, shaking her hand. Like he wanted to explain  _ Fox _ for the millionth time. Besides, it was only half a lie.

”That's a good name. I have a brother named Bill."

"Then, he must be a nice guy. Anybody named William is a good person".

His initial worry easily subsided. Donna, or whatever her name was, gave off some kind of chilling vibe that soothed him instantly. They chatted for some minutes about nothing in particular and he was feeling better than he had in a while. Lee Roche had somehow moved to the furthest part of his mind.

“So, you getting married?” he asked her, trying to get the conversation going.

Instead of answering, she moved forward to kiss him. He was taken by surprise and didn’t have time to react. Donna didn't look like the kind of woman who was so straightforward. He was going to retreat, but the kiss was good. So good. There was some kind of chemistry to it that he hadn't ever felt before. Not with Diana, not with Phoebe.

But that wasn't right. He was not the kind of man to do that. It had hurt him to the core when Phoebe had cheated on him, so he wasn't going to make that same mistake. He had to put an end to it. Donna seemed like a really special woman; he felt so attracted to her. But he wasn't going to ruin what he had for a one night stand. As their tongues started intertwining fiercely, he gathered all his strength to move away from that redheaded goddess.

"Sorry, I… I can't do this, I'm an idiot," he tried to apologize. “I, uh, I have someone waiting for me at home," he muttered. He felt he deserved the slap that was probably coming his way.

Or the drink that she grabbed and spilled all over him.

Maybe in another life in which he was single he could have had a chance with her. But not here, not today. He ordered another drink to help him forget that redhead who he was probably never going to see again. Destiny hated him for some reason. He would never get so lucky.

+++++++

Dana was completely enraged. She stormed off, away from the guy, feeling so stupid. What was it with committed guys these days? Why were they all after her? She had been unusually daring in kissing him because she had felt he liked her. But she had clearly misread. 

"I'm done with men I tell you," she complained to her friends sitting down on the sofa with a thump. "From now on, they will have to make a real effort; I'm not cheap."

She ordered another drink to make her completely forget about the guy at the bar.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'll be forever thankful if you have a moment to leave a comment :D


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